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Scams! What is the Biggest Scam?

2006-01-24 Posted at 07:27:12 PM

According to the dictionary the word scam is a slang word for fraudulent
business scheme; a swindle.   The definition seems a little out of date. A scam
is definitely a swindle but it has grown being slang.   Slang is defined a kind of
language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech typically of short-lived
coinages and figures of speech . Nothing playful and not short lived.   The word
scam and the scams themselves are here to stay.

The Internet had been a boon for many legitimate to increase there business
rapidly all over the world.   The same Internet makes it possible for the scam
artists to spread their scams equally as fast and far. According to one Internet
source the top five Internet scams are:
   1. eBay Scam
   2. AOL You've Got Pictures Scam
   3. AOL Billing Scam
   4. Washington Mutual Bank Scam
   5. SunTrust Bank Scam

The choice of the top five scams is fluid since the new scams or more aptly
variations of old scams are introduced every day.

The eBay scam is an an example of a typical scam.   An individual receives
highly official looking e-mail, purportedly from eBay's accounts management
department, asking for credit card information, a social security number, and
more.   The scammers use this for criminal purposes or sell the information
to other criminals

The five scams listed are similar and have coined a new word to describe
them phishing.   Phishing is a method of identity theft carried out through the
creation of a website that seems to represent a legitimate company. The
visitors to the site, thinking they are buying something from a real business,
submit their personal information to the site.   There are many other scams
such as Ponzis, offshore investments and many other investment schemes.
One scam that had been around for years is the Nigerian Scam has been
emptying the pockets of victims for decades — first through letters, then with
faxes, and now via e-mail. In its earliest incarnation — which dates to the
1920s.   The scam seems so outrageous that you think that it would seem
no one would ever fall for it. They longevity proves otherwise.   In case you are
one of the few people on the Internet who have never heard the of the Nigerian
Scam it basically is a scheme to the sender requests help in facilitating the
transfer millions of dollars. The sender, usually some sort of royalty offers a
commission, usually in the range of million dollars. The sender only request
that money be sent to pay for costs associated with the transfer. Hard to
believe but people are still falling for the scam.

One way to protect yourself from Internet scams is to never give out you
personal information to an unsolicited email no matter how legitimate.
A simple but effective way to protect your self is to do a google search
to investigate.

There is one scam that it is bigger than all the other scams combined.
In involves trillions of dollars and there is not much you can do about it.
They people who perpetuate the scam do not face any criminal charges.
If you are are a Senior Citizen, there is no need to worry. It wont effect you.
If are a Baby Boomer or younger, its another story.

The scam is the trillions of dollars being promised in Social Security
pensions and Medicare payments, for which there is not money in the till.
Congress has made laws that private pension plans have to enough
money in trust to provide the promised future benefits.   If General Motors,
Ford, Walmart or any company that set up a pension benefit plan and
funded it with IOUs the people at the companies would be fined
prosecuted and put in jail. Some companies have had problems with
the underfunded pension plans and are facing severe penalties.
Underfunded means not enough funds not IOUs.

Present members of Congress face no such threat.   They merely just
promise more and more benefits to keep being elected and retaining
power. They let future members of Congress to figure out how to
welsh on the promises. Congress has no problem about holding
hearing to critizise Private Pension Plans are unfunded. This is the
classic the Pot calling the Kettle Black.

According to Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in 1950, there were
16 workers paying taxes into the system for every retiree who was taking
benefits out of it. Today, there are a little more than three. By the time the
baby boomers retire, there will be just two workers who will have to pay
all the taxes to support every one retiree.

One way is to raise tax rates to confiscatory levels. The estimate that
rates would have to be raised from the current 12.4% to 18%, almost
a 50% increase.   Another more likely ploy is to pay the money with
inflated dollars. The Federal Government could just print more money.
The law of supply and demand  tells us that the huge increase in the
money available will result in its value going down.

Members of Congress who are telling millions of people on pensions
that have no funding but IOUs are perpetuating the biggest opportunity
scam of all.   This is an equal opportunity scam. Republicans,
Democrats, men, women, blacks and white all perpetuate the scam.
A few people do sometimes talk about the problem but nothing is done.

Wally McRae

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Scams! What is the Biggest Scam?

2006-01-24 Posted at 07:27:12 PM